Catherine Rampell: The USDA sent an email to grocery stores telling them they are prohibited from offering special

[Wiz Imp]

28. From USDA website: The average SNAP household received a monthly benefit of $332. That's $177 per person based on the

average SNAP household size of 1.9 people.

Households with children received a larger average monthly benefit of $574 due to the larger average household size of 3.3 people. The average benefit per person for these households was $174.

Most SNAP households lived in poverty. Seventy-three percent had a gross monthly income at or below 100% of the poverty level.

Most SNAP benefits go to the poorest households. Eighty-six percent of all SNAP benefits go to households with gross monthly income at or below the poverty level and 51% of benefits go to those with gross monthly income at or below 50% of the poverty level. In contrast, 27% of households with a gross monthly income above the poverty level received 14% of all benefits.

When added to households’ gross incomes, SNAP benefits raised the incomes of 17% of SNAP households above the poverty level. Pandemic-related supplemental benefits, known as emergency allotments, raised the incomes of an additional 13% of households above the poverty level. When including both SNAP benefits and emergency allotments, the percentage of SNAP households living above the poverty level increased from 27% to 57%.

About 39% of SNAP participants were children, 20% were elderly, and 10% were nonelderly individuals with a disability.

Social Security was the most common source of income among SNAP households. Thirty-three percent of SNAP households received Social Security benefits (an average of $1,096 monthly).

Earnings from work and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) were the next most common sources of income. Twenty-eight percent of households had earnings (an average of $1,548 monthly) and 23% of households received SSI benefits (an average of $723 monthly).

General Assistance (GA) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits were less common sources of income. About 4% of SNAP households received GA (an average of $380 monthly) and 3% received TANF benefits (an average of $573 monthly).

https://www.fns.usda.gov/research/snap/characteristics-fy23